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Dining in the Dark offers sensory awareness to help Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision

Students learn about physical orientation and mobility. (Photo courtesy of the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision)

Students learn how to enjoy flowers by scent and touch. (Photo courtesy of the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision)

A student learns baking as part of the activities of a daily living program. (Photo courtesy of the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision)

Eating dinner in the dark — no candles or light from a cell phone — will quickly give a diner a hint of what people who are blind or visually impaired face daily, at least when trying to eat.

“I had dressing and stuff all over the place, vinaigrette dressing,” said Leslie Eatherly, director of development for the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision, who attended such an event in Tallahassee, Fla. “It was a challenging experience.”

The center’s Dining in the Dark fundraiser will be Jan. 21 at the downtown Embassy Suites. Helping seat and serve the three-course meal in the dark will be volunteers who are members of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department SWAT team, wearing their night vision glasses.

This is an opportunity to experience, for just an hour, the world of no vision. In addition, speakers will share how to talk with and, if needed, help a person who was born without sight or lost it sometime during their lives, Eatherly said.

For people in 29 area counties, the center offers services to promote independence for those who are blind or visually impaired. The center operates on grants, donations and the support from the community, like this new fundraiser.

The Tallahassee center has done this event for about 13 years, said Eatherly.

“We were in the dark for about two hours. And sitting in the dark for that long, my eyes were trying to adjust to darkness. I had to put my sunglasses on to just relax my eyes. Everybody has a different experience. If you are blind, a salad is probably one of the hardest things you can possibly eat. It’s hard to pick it up with your fork. You are pouring your dressing; you don’t know how much you can put in there. We didn’t realize there was tea and water (she found one glass and went no farther). You take your hand and slowly try to touch things so you are not knocking things over. It’s a sensory type of event.”

She declined to reveal the Savannah menu, though when registering, guests may choose a vegetarian or gluten-free meal and note if they have food allergies.

“If we told you the menu, then you would know what to be expecting. At the Tallahassee event, they had mashed potatoes, carrots, some type of breaded chicken on top of the mashed potatoes. I got so frustrated; I started using my fingers (to eat).”

Arriving at the Embassy Suites, guest will find silent auction items. When the eight people assigned to a specific table are present, they enter a dark room where they will stay about five minutes to acclimate themselves, Eatherly said. Then each one will hold on to the shoulders of the person ahead of them while they are lead to their table by a SWAT team member. The salad and drinks will already be on the table.

After an hour of dining, the lights will be turned on and guests can see what the table looks like. No plates will be removed at that point. Then speakers will share their stories. Some will be people who are blind or with low vision.

“It can be pretty emotional,” Eatherly said. After losing their vision as an adult, unable to work, drive or shop, some people are ready to give up on life, she said. Then they hear about the center.

“You go to bed and wake up the next morning with no sight whatsoever, what do you do?” Eatherly said, explaining what does happen to people. “One woman had her own business, her own house and had to sell her business and move in with her children. She was at the point where she was ready to give up; I mean commit suicide. About her 14th call for help, she called us.”

She was offered training, Eatherly said. “Some older people want some kind of magnification to just read a book or the paper, since they have not completely lost their vision. Some who aren’t so fortunate to be helped by those types of aids will go through a four- to nine-month program.”

The center teaches orientation mobility, independent skills, technology, how to shop at the grocery store, banking — all the things the person used to do.

As for the woman who lost everything and had to move in with her children, Eatherly said, “Today she is back at work, living on her own and doing good.”

IF YOU GO

What: Dining in the Dark fundraiser for Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision